THE I B I S. 



FIFTH SERIES. 



No. VIII. OCTOBER 1884. 



XXXIX. — Notes on the Birds of the Pyrenees. 

 By Howard Saunders. 



In publishing these observations on the ornithology of the 

 Pyrenees, I do not pretend to have explored the whole of 

 that great mountain-chain^ or even to have worked up any 

 district except the western one. To have done this^ even 

 imperfectly, it would have been necessary to spend at least 

 three springs and summers in various portions of the chain ; 

 and to obtain the best results it is absolutely necessary that 

 the naturalist should make the Spanish side his principal 

 collecting-ground, a course which would involve considerable 

 hardship. As regards the French side, where all reasonable 

 comforts can be obtained, the word " Pyrenees," in the 

 tourist sense of the word, means the " show-district," bounded 

 by Eaux-Chaudes, Eaux-Bonnes, and Gabas on the west, and 

 by Luchon and Venasque on the east — a mountain-mass 

 partially pierced by narrow gorges and containing the most 

 lofty summits, unfavourable therefore, on the whole, to 

 bird-life. I have visited this district, but never having 

 been able to remain there later than the month of May, my 

 experiences are limited. In that portion of the eastern 

 SER. V. — VOL. ir. 2e 



